US President-Elect Joe Biden on Saturday promised to be a president for all Americans in his first reaction after several news outlets projected his win. Biden, a Democrat, will be the 46th president of the United States. Kamala Harris will be his vice president. She is the first woman as well as the first person of colour in the post. Counting of votes, however, is still underway.
“America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” he said in a tweet. “The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”
“With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation,” he added, according to CNN.
Joe Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president from 2008 to 2016, and has sought the Democratic nomination twice before – in 1988 and 2008. The 77-year-old is a six-time senator from Delaware. He is the oldest US president in history at 77, but if Trump had won, he would have been the oldest too, at 74 years.
Vice President Elect Kamala Harris said the election was about more than just Biden or her. “It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it,” she said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.”
A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win. Biden has led the race since Tuesday, with the gap between him and Trump slowly widening over the last five days. On Saturday, the crucial state of Pennsylvania was called for him, putting him on track to win the elections with a total of 273 electoral votes.
Biden is leading in Nevada and Arizona. He also has a razor-thin lead over Donald Trump in Georgia, where a recount will be held as the margin between Trump and Biden was under 0.5% of the vote. Georgia has been a Republican state since 1992, when it elected Democrat President Bill Clinton.
Trump is not expected to concede easily. He has said he will contest the results, but it is unclear whether it will impact the outcome.
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